The debate continues on whether South Africa should have a national minimum wage and, if so, at what level should it be pegged. A variety of recent political, labour and economic developments brought the debate to the fore but the biggest driver remains poverty levels. However, the quest for economic growth and job creation also complicates the matter. 

Last week, Canada strongly indicated that the confiscation of deposits in Cyprus has already had global ramifications. At the same time, a prestigious organisation of the world’s largest banks warned that the 'Cyprus approach' would, most likely, become a model for dealing with bank collapses elsewhere in Europe and possibly in other countries. 

Arguments that state land should be used to meet land redistribution targets are misleading. Very little state land is suitable for this purpose. Official data from 2002 shows that only 2% of the total of 12.6 million ha of state-owned land is suitable for land reform, according to a fact sheet just published by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (Plaas) of the University of the Western Cape.  

On the international diplomatic and media fronts, South Africa’s military involvement in the Central African Republic has not met with questioning or negative reactions. On the domestic front, however, it was dramatically different, begging the question why government won the international battle but lost it so badly on the home front? 

Over the last two weeks, the world got a relatively small preview of the global impact that can be expected in the event of a large-scale internet failure. First there was physical damage to an undersea cable just off the coast of Egypt. Then, last week, millions of people around the world were affected by slow internet speeds after an unprecedented attack by spammers in Europe. This attack was almost exactly how an expert, last year, predicted it would happen. 

If you are one of those people who believe that it was the colonists who settled at the most southern tip of Africa – and especially those un-godly French Huguenots who joined them – that were the first to use the 'dop system' of feeding workers liquor at the end of the working day, you are wrong. It all started with those Limeys of England’s Royal navy. 

An independent judicial commission of inquiry, set up by the South African government, will lead the investigation into alleged match fixing of friendly matches in the build-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Minister of sport, Fikile Mbalula, deserves congratulations for sticking to his guns and standing firm in the face of a ferocious onslaught by the world governing body Fifa.

Faultless kicking by the Sharks kingpin, Patrick Lambie, and a phenomenal performance under immense pressure by Cheetah Burton Francis were the standout performances by South Africans during the past Super Rugby weekend. Lambie has entrenched himself as the frontrunner for the Springbok fly-half position in 2013 and will possibly be in the starting line-up when South Africa encounters Italy and Scotland in June.